


Flame and Forest, Damsels and Dragons

by Selkie_de_Suzie



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: Butterfly Bog AU, Dragons, Romantic Tension, Sorcerers, butterfly bog, dark fantasy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:26:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7808887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selkie_de_Suzie/pseuds/Selkie_de_Suzie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a finer line then one thinks between Princess and Predator, Dragons and Damsels… </p><p>For Strange Magic Week 2016, Day 4: Dark Fantasy AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flame and Forest, Damsels and Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> I had *so* much fun with this one, guys, I can’t even try to deny it. I’ve been wanting to write a story like this for so long…!
> 
> Just want to say that I envisioned Human!Bog here, but in reading it, it could easily be his Canon form too. So, whichever one your mind wants, it works =) 
> 
> As always, hope you enjoy!

“The Dire One of the Dark Forest? I was expecting… _more_  of a title.” 

The sorcerer planted his staff into the scorched soil of the Dark Forest, more bestial in that moment then the creature before him with the snarl he gave. “If you come to kill me to claim any crown, you’ve been sorely misinformed. There are curse casters like me throughout the Forest—”

The dragon snorted, rolling amber eyes that scalded like molten gold and crackled with heat like the flames they had tucked behind their teeth.  _“Lies._ There are no curse casters like you. I know the rules of your people – only one who can yield both protective and defensive magic is given the right to rule. I saw how you used that staff. Quite formidable. I’m no fool.” 

His blue eyes were cold, even in the face of the flames they had spread across the trees. “Only a fool tries to plunder the Dark Forest.” 

“Who says I’m here to plunder?” Scaly, leathery wings spread and flexed, bat-like and beautiful, sinew and scales rippling sinuously and shimmering with an almost horrifying beauty, dark purple iridescence with tendrils of gold flashing out. Those molten amber eyes looked around once more, and when they spoke, their voice was dry and… _feminine?_  “Nice place you have here.” 

“Ye should see it when it isn’t  _on fire.”_

The eyes slitted at him, hellfire smoldering in their depths.  _“You_  were the one to cast that curse at me—!” 

 _“An’ Ah’ll cast more if need be!”_  Bog hefted the staff and held it out at her, his face murderous. “Ye were th’ one ta trespass an’ invade! Ah don’ know if such things matter to dragons, but ye’ll find tha’ Forest Folk are not  _amused_ by such transgressions.”

She– _he was certain the beast was a female, he had heard that the fiercer dragons always were_ –snarled at him, exposing fangs as long and sharp as swords. He could hear the crackle of fire in her throat.  _“I did not seek to amuse you.”_

“Not here to  _plunder_ , not here to  _amuse_ …” Bog glared at her and exhaled harshly through his nose as he planted the staff into the dirt once more, though he did not let go out it. That seemed to settle her, and he watched the glow of unborn flames get swallowed down behind the scales of her throat. He glared at her and continued on. “The Dark Forest is a place of shadows and sanctuary. Dragons bring light with them, fierce and merciless. For a beast who says they know the rules of its people, you would  _think_  you wouldn’t set the bloody place ablaze for no small reason.”

Something flickered in her eyes at that, and she ducked her great head, looking…chastened? Ashamed? “I apologize for coming unannounced, and the panic and destruction that resulted.”

She then shot him a sharp look, her claws making great grooves in the Forest’s floor. “But you didn’t have to cast that curse at me! And don’t think I haven’t noticed how those flames aren’t spreading to other trees. That has to be the quickest casting of an enveloping enchantment I’ve ever seen.” 

Bog felt a flush of rage prickle across his neck.  _“So was this merely a test of my skills?!”_

“No.” The dragon’s face was solemn. “You were right before. I do not come here for no small, petty reason.” She settled down onto the earth, almost feline in how she arranged her limbs, before fixing him with that burning stare. “A knight seeks to invade and conquer your lands, and wishes to enslave me as a prize. I propose we join forces against him.” 

_And alliance between a Forest Folk curse caster and a dragon?_

Bog drummed his fingers against his staff, thinking on her words. “Quite the ambitious knight, to try and tame a dragon.  _Stupid_ , but ambitious.” 

The dragon snorted once more, and this time her voice was one of weary scorn. “You have no idea.”  Her wings flexed a bit, and she looked at him straight on. “Will you grant this? Will you honor a bond between us?” 

“What shall you give me in return?”

“A dragon’s protection for the Dark Forest. And there are…other means to protect you as well…” 

_His people’s safety assured. He would be mad to refuse. And yet…_

“I don’t deal in vagueness and false promises. I made the mistake of making a bargain and not listening carefully enough once, and I never will again.” He hefted his staff, aiming at her once more. “Tell me the other ways you intend to offer protection.” 

She drew up at that, the fire-crackle back in her voice. “My secrets are my own.” 

He smirked as he drew the staff down. Just like a dragon, hoarding jewels and gold and secrets and other precious things. “Then my spells stay mine. I will not be played. Tell the truth – what does a creature of your ferocity have to fear from a mere knight?”

Her growl quaked the earth, rattling the rocks themselves. But Bog was no rock but a root, tough and gnarled and anchored into the earth and his resolve. His heart paid the price for the Potion. He would not let his Forest pay for any more follies. 

Then—

The dragon sighed, her wings drooping and head dropping, a curl of smoke sliding out between her fangs– _false fire_ –before she looked up at him. The amber eyes still burned, but resignation, bitter as smoke, thickened her voice. “Nothing…as long as it’s dark.” 

Dawn broke through the sky at that moment, staining the tree tops gold and pink, like sunlight through a butterfly’s wing, and the air around her seemed to  _pulse_  with heat,  _shimmer, shift_ —

And the dragon was curling inwards, furling like a paper aflame, wings retreating into her spine and scales melting into a flesh that was increasingly pale, smooth,  _human_ —

The maiden before him was undoubtedly one of royal blood, given how straight her spine was when she stood and the commanding way she tilted her head to survey him at this new height. Hells, she was the very picture of a princess, beautiful and proud, gowned in the same dark, iridescent purple trimmed with gold, silk instead of scales. Her locks were dark with a redwood sheen, her body petite and lithe. 

But her eyes had stayed the same – the eyes of a wild thing trapped beneath too tight skin and too small bones, a fire of ferocity crackling against her breastbone, eager to be unleashed. Amber and gold, crackling and flashing…no human could have eyes like this. 

She glared at him, her delicate features heavy with a glower that was edging close to a growl, the fine line of her jaw clenching, and when her dainty rosewine mouth drew back in a snarl to expose white teeth that were considerably blunter than before, Bog could have laughed. “A damsel by day, a dragon by night. Quite an ingenious curse, your highness.” 

“It’s  _not_ a curse to me,” she retorted as she crossed to him, confirming Bog’s suspicions when she didn’t attempt to deny his addressment.

He grinned at her, too intrigued to keep it at bay. “Which came first?”  

“Human. I am no man’s damsel.” Her face was fierce and strangely vulnerable. “I don’t want to lose my wings or my fire. I don’t want to lose  _myself_. Not to him, not to  _anyone_. If he weds me, he’ll find a way to take it from me. My kingdom will be left defenseless. But if you form an alliance with me, I can use the power of the crown to keep both of our realms safe from him.”

The protection of a princess by day, the danger of a dragon by night, both keeping his people safe. Was there a way that he could lose…?

_There’s always a way. She could be playing you, luring you into a trap. So eager to trust again, so willing to play the fool—_

_Let this dragon see that she’s not the only beast here._

To her credit, the princess did not flinch when he raised his staff to her neck, merely stared at him with those fire-gold eyes. Bog’s voice was dark and dire as the woods he had sworn his blood and bones to. “I meant what I said before, _princess_. I will not be played. Do not think my trust is so easily bought with a few pretty words. That might be enough for your courtiers, but not  _me.”_

Her eyes were almost feline in how they blinked at him. “I don’t play people. I never trust anybody. I’m sick to my teeth of how sugared words hide rotten cores. This alliance is pragmatism between two kingdoms, nothing more, nothing less. Spit on it if you will, almighty Bog King, but I’m offering it.”  

_Hells._

Bog lowered his staff, hoping that neither the tender light of dawn nor the flames dancing around them did not expose his pale face. “Ye…ye know my name?” 

_To know a name of Forest Folk is to bind one, enslave them. Bury your name in your bones and strew the trail with false titles—_

She tilted her head, that dainty chin dipping down as she nodded. “Yes.”

Gods, she had been playing with him this whole time. 

He bowed his head, misery and resignation heavy already. “And you were only seeking for the opportune time to yield the magic it holds.” 

There was a pause, then—

A soft touch at his hand. 

Her voice was the gentlest he has ever heard from it from this dragon-damsel. “The only thing I seek is to give you a choice. I meant what I said before, Bog King.  _I don’t play people.”_

He raised his head to look at her, blue eyes looking up at her from beneath his heavy brow, assuaging what words her sincerity had writ upon her face. When she met his gaze she blinked, as if startled. A wry twist curled at Bog’s lips.  _No doubt she’s used to handsome heroes, not scaly old sorcerers._

But then she squared her shoulders and held out her hand to him, the fingers long and slender and, Bog was sure, imbued with a surprising strength. Her eyes crackled at him once more, and gods, but no wonder she had the soul of a dragon, she  _burned_  so. “Help me defeat my bastard of a betrothed, Bog King, and I swear to you on my crown and my wings that the Dark Forest will  _never_  want for protection by day or by dark.”

Her low voice held only the intensity of single, focused flame, the spark of which could undoubtedly ignite a Forest.

Perhaps even his _._   

_Damn it to hells._

Bog sighed, inhaling deep through his teeth and tasting the smoke of her flames on his tongue. Gods, but she has going to be hellfire incarnate if this alliance failed. Still, he held out his hand to her, large and weathered and gnarled, his nails almost claws, his palm open and offered. His voice was the iron of the earth, the softness of shadows. “In exchange for the protection promised…I, the Bog King of the Dark Forest, accept an alliance with you, and vow to defeat our common foes as one. So witnessed by rock and root.” 

He had no idea if she was familiar as she claimed to be with the rules of his people, but when she took his hand, her eyes burned with certainty and something akin to joy as she finished the pact. “So sworn by moss and moonlight.”  

Bog couldn’t help the faint smile tugging at his lips. She knew them, alright. Knew the pledges, knew his name, and apparently knew how to handle a bothersome betrothed. 

_On that note…_

He nodded to her. “What’s yours?” 

She blinked, her look of confusion off-putting after seeing her so unwaveringly fierce. “I…I’m sorry?” 

 _“Your name,”_  Bog said slowly. Gods, if she was like any other of the princesses he had known with their flowery names,  _Lilly-Belle_  and  _Rosebud_  or even bloody  _Buttercup—_

She flushed, the hue pink as primroses under the light of the new sun. “Oh!  _Right._  Ah…” She gave a quick curtsy, inclining her head. “Princess Marianne of the Fairfae Kingdom.” 

 _Marianne._  What a blessed difference. Bog smirked and inclined his head as well. “The Bog King of the Dark Forest.” 

She smiled and gave something that was shockingly close to a breathless little laugh.  _“Obviously.”_

It was at this precise moment both of them realized they were still holding hands.

Each swiftly dropped the other like it was a hot coal, and Bog wondered some of the fierce blush on Princess Marianne’s face came from the flame she held inside her. It might explain some other things. 

_Her hand so warm, the gentle glow of fire upon skin…_

Bog cleared this throat and shouldered his scepter, motioning Princess Marianne to follow him to his abode. They would need to see which of his spells could be useful for this venture to be a success… 

_Gods willing, you might get to hold her hand again._

And so the Bog King of the Dark Forest began his alliance with Princess Marianne of the Fairfae Kingdom, and wondered what the  _hells_  he had gotten himself into with this dragon–damsel.

**Author's Note:**

> So, funny story, but I actually have a book planned that explores this premise! It’s a wee bit different then what’s here, but it’s pretty much the same twisting of the dragon and the damsel trope. I have the fond hope of getting it onto paper one day in the not-so-far off future…
> 
> That being said, I love this AU an awful lot. I have a feeling I would more than willing to return to it now and again. Dragon!Marianne is too much fun not to =)


End file.
